The Ferryman (2007)

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

"The Ferryman" manages to be unexpectedly good. Granted, the concept of a body-jumping killer has appeared in other films, but this would be the most effective example I've seen.Mostly, I actually found myself caring about the characters. Watching the film twice in quick succession I actually found myself feeling slightly sad knowing what would happen to these people. I suppose credit should go to the actors since their characters aren't exactly deep.I'm really not sure what else I should say since I would rather not explain too much. I suppose if there's anything wrong with "The Ferryman" it's that the ending raises a question which will never be answered most likely.

"The Ferryman" is a potentially interesting but ultimately extremely disappointing effort.**SPOILERS**Going out on a trip, Big Dave, (Tamer Hassan) and his Suze, (Kerry Fox) agree to take friends Chris Hamilton, (Craig Hall) Kathy, (Amber Sainsbury) Zane, (Julian Arahanga) and Tate, (Sally Stockwell) on a multi-day cruise from New Zealand. At first out having fun, they soon start to change when they come upon a strange fog, and when coming upon a stranded sailor known as The Greek, (John Rhys-Davies) they decide to bring him aboard. Shortly afterward, they realize that something isn't right, and when the group begins to start killing each other, they learn that they are the target of the Ferryman, a vicious supernatural killer that is trying to collect souls to take to the afterlife, and must resort to a never-ending series of tactics to outwit the body-hopping killer before all of them become victims.The Good News: This here was a potentially interesting affair, as there was some good stuff here. One of the film's best features is the killer and his rules, which are quite new and original, not really something that is expected at all and really has something going for it. With the rules following along closely to the ones already established for the real-life persona it's based on, namely the reaping of souls for the underworld and used here, gives it a nice touch and really makes it seem that much more like a legitimate, imposing force. That there are also rules that go along with it all, from how to get possessed to what happens during that time and how to get rid of the force within is also really nice, which works here by adding a really interesting twist on the slasher-among-a-group-of-friends that has been done countless times before which is where it really scores well while also giving the film some nice momentum at the end when it's revealed what's going on and making those scenes, which start off as back-story revelations but turn into big brawls makes it even more entertaining and exciting, putting in a touch of energy missing from the rest of the film as well. The last plus here is the fact that the kills aren't that bad and quite bloody, which is a big plus. There's several that are beaten up and viciously bruised, an eyeball bludgeoned out, a beer bottle bashed against the head, a slit throat and another is set on fire. These here are all that work right for this one.The Bad News: There was a couple of rather big flaws for this one. One of the main ones is that the film is just so utterly boring that it's quite impossible to make it through most of the beginning of the film. As it sets up the characters and their relationships with each other, it doesn't really start getting to business until an hour in, which is a criminal mistake that really takes it's toll on the film. It sets up almost nothing as it's just random scenes of people acting mysteriously around each other and then everyone else trying to figure out what's going on, but none of this is done with any care towards making it interesting. They just go around talking about anything and everything, which is quite boring and makes for a dull time. This also isn't helped by the fact that there's just a high level of confusion around the film, as hardly any of it makes any sense at all. There's very little reason given as to what the killer is doing going after any of the people here as it was given that there was a target, which wasn't any of them, and makes those scenes just all-around confusing. The scenes among the group earlier when trying to figure everything out are just as bad, as they manage to just spout off anything that sounds logical and not really piecing anything together coherently, offering up little that is overall important and just instead adds to the dullness and boredom that permeate the film. There's so much more here that doesn't make any sense that it eventually just washes over and really just sort of settles, making the overall effect of derision quite easy to accept. The last flaw here, which ties into the confusion as well but also suffers on it's own, is the fact that the film never really does anything with the killer or his motive, which is introduced way too late into the film to really get a handle on anything. It's almost over before we get any kind of idea what the official killer is, an explanation about it or why it's important to the film, all of which come a little too late to be of much help and never really comes of anything. It would've been better not being given at all rather than at that late date. These here are the film's problems.The Final Verdict: Really hard to get into and features a lot of really big and important flaws, really negating this one considerably and not really offering much. Give it a shot if this kind of film appeals to you, while those that are put off by the flaws or aren't into this kind of film should heed extreme caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and animal violence

Three couples embark on a six day romantic boat journey to Fiji and their differences ensure that personality clashes abound.However all that is put to one side when they encounter a seemingly abandoned boat in dense fog.They find a living stranger on board and rescue him,however the terrifying consequences lead to plenty of gore.It seems that the ship is deserted apart from the mysterious sailor lying half-dead under a tarpaulin(played by horror regular John Rhys Davies).Rhys-Davies' body is actually home to a being who can shift between bodies swapping souls.This soul-swapping is achieved with the aid of the magic dagger-if he stabs somebody with it,he instantly becomes the victim.He's doing this to avoid a demonic entity called 'the Ferryman' who has been chasing him through thousands of bodies over many years.In "The Ferryman" each victim in turn becomes the killer.The killer always has a snakelike tattoo on their back,which is the symbol of infinity.During the first 40 minutes the action moves slowly and the legend of Ferryman is slightly confusing.Still I enjoyed this quite exciting,gripping and bloody horror flick.7 out of 10.

OK well I was expecting a little bit of entertainment from this movie but not much because after all it is a straight to DVD horror film and I watch a lot of those and I am often disappointed all the same but I watch them anyways just to know if they are good or not. But this one was rather good compared to some of the other garbage that I have seen, I enjoyed the horror elements even though they were rather brutal and uncalled for at times. The ending was sort of confusing, but I liked seeing the face of the real ferryman rather than just a knife through the whole movie. Overall I gave it a 5 out of 10 because it was sort of entertaining, but some parts were just weird and unnecessary. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're bored then go ahead.